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Documenting and preserving Virginia’s largest, most revered trees
Virginia is home to nearly 80 national champion big trees, consistently placing the commonwealth in the top five states with the most documented champion trees, or trees that have grown to be the largest specimens of their particular species. The Virginia Big Tree Program, coordinated by the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech, maintains a register of the largest specimens of over 300 native, non-native and naturalized tree species in Virginia.
Loudoun Schools Abandon Delayed Start Training Plan Amid Parental Pushback
Just days after presenting a plan to the School Board to have 16 two-hour delayed school days to accommodate more than 36 hours of state-required teacher training, division administrators announced Friday they are changing course after receiving nearly 2,000 responses from the community. “After carefully reviewing the feedback and recognizing that the adjusted arrival schedule is not an ideal option for the majority of the families we heard from, we are reconsidering our approach,” according to the emailed announcement.
Boy Scouts love this scenic Va. river. Locals say they’re ruining it.
Anne McClung was tending horses in her 19th-century barn one day last summer when she noticed a change in the Maury River flowing swiftly nearby. She’s known the river all her 76 years, but it didn’t take a practiced eye to recognize clouds of silt in the normally clear waters. McClung could think of only one cause: The Boy Scouts. The National Capital Area Council of the Scouts, based in Bethesda, has maintained a campground and lake a few miles upstream from McClung’s home for almost six decades. In recent times, the Scouts have drained the lake every fall, causing sediment to pour into one of Virginia’s most iconic and well-loved rivers.
Attorney says he misled client into taking plea in Richmond graduation shooting case; judge rejects motion to withdraw
Room 301 at the John Marshall Courts Building was packed Friday afternoon as Amari Pollard, the man who pleaded guilty in February to the shooting death of Shawn Jackson after Huguenot High School’s 2023 graduation ceremony, returned to court. He was there for a hearing on his motion to withdraw, or to legally ‘take-back’ his guilty plea.
Virginia has history of underfunding school construction
... Richmond Public Schools has acknowledged it’s been playing Whac-A-Mole with infrastructure issues. The district created a facilities plan in 2017, but some schools — like Woodville Elementary — were and still are on the list for needed upgrades. RPS is just now developing a plan to build a new Woodville. Meanwhile, Chesterfield County’s long-term school facilities plan is carefully charted to build and renovate numerous school buildings over the next five years.
How the Shenandoah County School Board Decided to Restore Confederate School Names
Proud and satisfied, or sad and embarrassed. However citizens of the commonwealth view Shenandoah County School Board’s recent decision, Virginia appears to be the first in the nation to restore Confederate school names, after years of vigorous community engagement, a controversial renaming process, and a change in board priorities related to race, diversity and inclusion.
Burned by the British in 1781, lost barracks are found in Williamsburg
Years after the Williamsburg barracks were burned, former Continental Army soldier Spencer Davis, of Virginia, recalled seeing the glow from the blaze in the distance. A British force had pounced on the Americans at night, killing two, causing the others to flee, and setting the fire, Davis recalled. It happened in 1781, near the close of the Revolutionary War. The barracks, built in 1776 after the Declaration of Independence, had been a proud symbol for the new country.
By setting aside partisan bickering, Virginia officials reached a compromise budget
It’s rare in our deeply divided, hyperpartisan political environment to see elected officials pass anything remotely resembling a genuine compromise, but the two-year state budget approved this week is a notable, and laudable, exception. Democratic lawmakers who lead the General Assembly and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin each made substantial concessions from their priority wish list in order to reach agreement on a deal that, by and large, advances the commonwealth’s interests. Both sides deserve credit for choosing engagement rather than extremism in order to see this through.
Roanoke police settle ACLU lawsuit with new department policy
The Roanoke Police Department and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia reached a settlement agreement this month in a lawsuit related to an immigrant’s visa situation. The lawsuit, which the ACLU-VA says is the first of its kind, was filed in Roanoke Circuit Court in March. The civil rights group sued the police department on behalf of an immigrant survivor of domestic violence, whose request for a visa certification was denied by the department “despite clear state law,” according to an ACLU-VA press release published Friday.
Oakes family, VCU to host state’s first ever anti-hazing summit
The family of Adam Oakes will host a statewide hazing prevention summit at Virginia Commonwealth University next month, a first-of-its-kind event that brings together educators and anti-hazing foundations aimed at stopping the dangerous behavior. The event will be June 4 at the VCU Student Commons. About 30 groups have signed up so far, including 19 colleges, one K-12 school district, fraternity representatives and foundations, said Courtney White, Oakes' cousin.